When the Storm Is Coming and Your Shutters Are Not Ready
It happens every hurricane season. The forecast shifts, the cone points at Central Florida, and a homeowner tries their shutters for the first time in a year — only to find one jammed halfway, a lock that will not engage, or a motor that hums and does nothing. Or the storm panels are in the garage, the wing nuts are missing, and nobody remembers which panel goes where.
That is what emergency shutter service is for. When time is short and your protection is not working, we come out, diagnose fast, and get your shutters closed and secured — or deploy your panels for you — before conditions turn dangerous.
What Counts as an Emergency
A shutter that will not close
Jammed accordion curtain, roll-down stuck mid-travel, Bahama shutter with a seized hinge, colonial panel with a broken latch. If a shutter will not close and lock, your home has an unprotected opening — that is an emergency when a storm is forecast.
A shutter that will not stay closed
A lock that will not engage or a latch that pops open under pressure is as bad as no shutter at all. Wind finds the weak point. We repair or replace the locking hardware on the spot.
Motor failure with a storm approaching
Dead motor, failed remote, tripped control — we troubleshoot the electrical side first, and every motorized shutter has a manual crank override we can deploy immediately while we work the underlying problem.
Panels you cannot get up in time
No judgment — storm panels are heavy, awkward work, and second-story openings from a ladder are genuinely dangerous. If you cannot deploy your panels before the storm, we will do it for you, provided conditions still allow safe work.
Post-storm damage
After the storm passes, we assess shutter damage, secure broken units so they do not become hazards, and document what needs repair or replacement for your insurance claim.
What to Do Right Now
If a storm is approaching and your shutters are not working:
Do not force a jammed shutter. Forcing it bends slats, strips mechanisms, and can turn a quick fix into a replacement. Leave it as-is until help arrives.
Do not climb on the roof or lean from high ladders in rising wind. No shutter is worth an injury. If conditions are already dangerous, shelter in an interior room away from the unprotected opening instead.
Gather what you have. Find keys, crank handles, remotes, and panel hardware while you wait. Knowing where things are saves critical minutes.
Request help immediately. Emergency capacity is first-come, first-served, and it runs out as the storm gets closer. The earlier you reach out, the more likely we can get to you. Request emergency service through our contact form right now — describe the problem, your address area, and how soon the storm is expected.
How Emergency Service Works
When your request comes in, we triage: unprotected openings with an imminent storm go first. We dispatch with the most common repair parts on the truck — rollers, locks, latches, fasteners, lubricants, crank handles, and motor diagnostic tools. On site, we fix what can be fixed fast and secure what cannot: a shutter that needs a part we do not have gets closed and mechanically secured another way until the part arrives.
Be realistic with us and we will be realistic with you. Some repairs need parts that take days to source. Some conditions are too dangerous for any work at all — once sustained winds reach tropical-storm force, nobody should be on a ladder or handling large panels. That is why the single best emergency strategy is calling early. Our hurricane season prep checklist is designed to make sure you never need this page.
After the Storm
Once it is safe, we come back for damage assessment: bent or missing slats, stressed anchors, water intrusion around mounts, motor and control damage from power surges. We document everything in writing with photos — documentation your insurance adjuster will want. Then we quote the repairs and get your protection back to full strength before the next storm. Because in Florida, hurricane season runs through November 30, and the next one does not care that you just survived this one.
The Best Emergency Is the One You Never Have
Almost every emergency call we run traces back to a shutter that had not been touched since the previous season. A spring inspection and tune-up — operate everything, lubricate, test locks and motors — prevents the vast majority of these crises. Schedule it in April, and this page stays a page you never need.
Build Your Emergency Plan Before Hurricane Season
The homeowners who sail through storm prep have a plan written down before June 1. Yours should include: where every key, crank handle, and remote is stored (one place, labeled); who closes the shutters if you are out of town (a neighbor, a family member, or us — decide now); how long deployment takes for your specific system (time it once in May); and our contact information saved where you can find it without power.
If you have storm panels, add: confirmation that every panel and all hardware are present, the labeled storage map, and a scheduled practice deployment. If you have motorized shutters, add: a battery-backup test and a check that you know where the manual crank is. Put the plan on the refrigerator or in your phone's notes — somewhere you will actually find it at 9 p.m. when the forecast changes.
When you contact us for emergency help, have this information ready: what type of shutters you have, what exactly is wrong, how many openings are affected, your location in the Orlando area, and when the storm is expected. The more precise you are, the faster we can triage and dispatch with the right parts on the truck.
Emergency service exists for the things no plan covers. But a plan covers almost everything, and it costs nothing to make. Our hurricane season prep checklist walks through the full pre-season routine.
Request Emergency Shutter Service
Storm coming and shutters not cooperating? Do not wait. Request emergency service through our contact form now — tell us what is wrong, where you are in the Orlando area, and when the storm is expected to arrive.